Updates

Hi All,

here are few updates that are going on. I haven't been posting a whole lot this week except for the Grocery & Drugstore Deals. I work Monday-Wednesday, and just started a Women's Bible Study on Thursday mornings. I am working on balancing those duties, along with Mommy duties, and my blogs. Also, I have some goals I would like to pursue starting this week or next.

1. Meal Planning with Christina

I'm not a great cook or good at preparing meals in advanced, but would like to take on the challenge. Plus I have a pantry that is stocked full, so I really want to start focusing on buying "needs" for the Meals that week, and any extra special deals or promos that might be going on, to save on my "Grocery Budget." Crystal, over at Money Saving Mom is so good at this. You can check her site out here.

2. Breakfast Edition.
Recipes & links for Breakfast meals & ideas.

3. Naps & Bedtime Battles.
I have been pretty blessed with Ava's sleeping habits. I followed the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by: Dr.Marc Weissbluth. It's the Baby bible for new & experienced mommies. Another good thing I love about this book, is that you can start a diary of your babies sleep habits. You get to see the changes your baby makes while you try new things. I also used his methods when I was trying to wean Ava from nursing in the middle of the night. I saw results after Day 5 in my diary. So it was nice to see that the effort was paying off.
If you are struggling with this or want to know more about the book, you can check it out here.

I have always put Ava down for her nap at 12:30 pm, and bedtime around 730 pm. She has been an easy baby/toddler that would just go right to bed or at least play in her crib until she fell asleep. Since Saturday night, she wouldn't let me leave her for nothing. Not sure why??? But to make a long story, not to long. Last night, it took me from 730-9 PM for her to sleep on her own.

What worked:
Putting her in her crib & sitting in the rocking chair & telling her to lay down (so she wouldn't crawl out-which is what she has been doing), and letting her cry. Please know, this has been really hard on me. But this is what I have to do so she will sleep.
I struggled again with this at nap time today. With lots of prayer and consistency she finally put herself to sleep and stayed in her crib. Basically, I am going back to my book to read about 20 month old ( or the 2 year old section), to see what is normal and what are good strategies to use.

4. Couponing Basic's, Organizing, and how to get Started.

Christina